


Haven Aftermath

by sunsetsoverwater



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-04-25 23:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4981696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetsoverwater/pseuds/sunsetsoverwater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little project of post-episode drabbles from season 5B.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Heartbreak - Post 514

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
> 
> Author’s Notes: Ok, so here’s my first attempt at a post-ep drabble. I’m going to be writing all of these as if I haven’t read any spoilers and have NO IDEA as to what is going to happen in the next episode.
> 
> Also, this has only gone through a light beta, so any dumb mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Everything up to the end of 514 applies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
> 
> Author’s Notes: Ok, so here’s my first attempt at a post-ep drabble. I’m going to be writing all of these as if I haven’t read any spoilers and have NO IDEA as to what is going to happen in the next episode.
> 
> Also, this has only gone through a light beta, so any dumb mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Everything up to the end of 514 applies.

**Heartbreak**

He was fairly positive he could hear her sobbing in the shower. He would go in soon to comfort her, but he needed a few minutes for himself first. He figured she did as well.

What a day. Why did days seem to be so long lately? This last one seemed to have lasted for weeks. In the course of not even 12 hours, he had gone from the threat of Mara, to finding out that Charlotte was Audrey’s mom, to almost losing Audrey once again, to saving Duke, to having Audrey brought back to him, to Duke exploding with Troubles, to dealing with a town full of scared Troubled people, to the breakup of the Haven PD, to telling Charlotte she needed to solve the Troubles, and then finally, watching Duke walk through the impenetrable fog bank, leaving he and Audrey standing alone on the side of the road. Was his life even real? How can so many major events happen to one person in one day?

When Duke walked away from them, he and Audrey had both been left speechless. Duke had left them. Everything he had said was so right, but still, they were friends, and he left them. They each rode in silence towards the Grey Gull, and didn’t say a word as they packed up her apartment. Instinctively they both knew the Gull was not a safe place at the moment, and she would be safer at his house. And by god, he was not letting her out of his sight if at all possible.

They stopped for a quick dinner at the diner on the way back to his place. Each not hungry, but knowing they needed to eat. It was a quiet dinner, but they were drawing strength from each other as they sat huddled together, side by side in the small booth.

As soon as they walked through the front door of his house, she dropped her duffle bag on the floor, not even bothering to take it to the bedroom, and muttered something about needing to wash the day off. He watched her walk off, wanting nothing more than to join her, but he needed a few minutes to himself.

The day was too much.

So, he sat on the sofa, his head in his hands, and thought about the gains and losses of the day. It was becoming too much, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to go on. But as he heard the water in the shower start to run, he knew he had the best reason ever to go on. He just hoped the Troubles didn’t get bad enough that even they wouldn’t be able to fix them.

And that was when he was fairly positive he could hear her crying. She was so strong, but she had been through just as much as he had, and more so.

Finally, he stood up and moved towards the bathroom, stripping from his clothes as he moved. When he walked in, he could see her huddled on the floor of the shower, sobbing into her hands as the water streamed down over her.

He was sure he felt his heart break.

He climbed into the shower, and sat with her, pulling her into his arms, and held her as sobs wracked her body.

“He just left, Nathan. Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know.”

“I failed him.”

“You didn’t fail him. He’s doing what he thinks is right.”

He sat there for moments, minutes, hours, he wasn’t sure. The only thing he was sure of was the feeling of Audrey in his arms, and the warmth of her skin from the water.

“I’m scared, Nathan. This is bad. Really bad.”

“I know.”

“I can’t lose you too.”

“I know.”

He held her for a few more minutes, thinking about the loss of his friend. When he felt her skin starting to cool, he knew the hot water must be running out, so he gathered her in his arms and stood, carrying her out of the shower. He set her on her feet, and wrapped her in a large towel, drying her off, before leading her to bed. They needed time for each other, and time to just forget the badness of the day, and take comfort in each other. So, they did.

Tomorrow could wait.

 


	2. After Fear - Post 515

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
> 
> Author’s Notes: I’m going to be writing all of these post-ep drabbles as if I haven’t read any spoilers and have NO IDEA as to what is going to happen in the next episode.
> 
> Also, this has only gone through a light beta, so any dumb mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Everything up to the end of 515 applies.

**After Fear**

She was scared. The atmosphere in the gym was charged, and it was half directed towards Nathan. Her elation of him returning was short-lived, and now she was pushing people back who were advancing on him. Everyone was turning on everyone, and even Nathan, the man who most of the town had always looked up to, was now considered an enemy. But why? What had happened to Kira? And why were so many of the townspeople siding with Tony? Many of them had only met Tony a few days ago.

She tried her best to hide her fear, but her exhaustion was getting the better of her. The only thing that had kept her going each day this past week at the school, was knowing each night she be able to lie on her small cot, wrapped in Nathan’s arms. He had always been her rock, and she his, but something had changed once Charlotte chose her over Mara. It was like she and Nathan instinctively knew the only way they would get through all of this was to act as one. And so, they did. They kept nothing from each other, and stuck close to each other whenever they could. Some days, that meant only at night, when they both passed out from exhaustion, but they passed out together.

Last night however, he wasn’t there. It was the first night in two weeks she had spent the night alone, and she couldn’t do it. After only a couple of hours of tossing and turning, with sleep easily evading her, she instead started roaming the halls. There was no one there to comfort her. She was alone. Anyone she held dear was gone, and it was tearing her apart. She refused to let that nugget of fear grow inside her - that nugget that Nathan wouldn’t be coming back from fixing the power in town. So she walked, and paced, and prayed for dawn.

But when Nathan and his team still hadn’t returned, that nugget had grown, and when she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, even she could see the bags under her eyes, and the worry etched on her face. And when whispers became shouts that Dave and Charlotte were back, but Nathan and Kira were not with them, everything inside her broke. The only thing she knew to be true was she couldn’t survive without Nathan. So, she would go after him, and if she didn’t make it back, well, so be it. And as much as she hated Charlotte, not only for everything she had done, but most importantly, for coming back without Nathan, it had felt so good to have someone hug her while she cried. She needed the comfort.

But no comfort was better than hearing the shouts of Nathan being back, so she fought her way through the crowd to get to him, to welcome him back to the school.

And now, she was pushing people away from him. Pulling him out of the gym as much as he was pulling her out. Again, the two of them were working as one, no longer fighting each other. They were working completely as a team.

They ran into Dwight as he was coming towards the commotion, and took cover in his office.

“What happened?”

Nathan stole a quick glance at Audrey before looking back to Dwight. “When we were out, Charlotte told me the key to curing the Troubles was aether. Dave had Seth’s Rougarou detector, so while Charlotte was fixing the generator, Kira and I went out to find it.”

“And?”

Nathan could hear the irritation in Dwight’s voice, but didn’t let it bother him. Dwight was under just as much pressure as everyone else lately, if not more. “And, we found some.”

“You found aether?” Audrey couldn’t help but be surprised. Mara had searched for weeks, and Nathan had found it in only a few hours.

Nathan opened his backpack, allowing Audrey and Dwight to look in, where they could both see the bag was filled with the small, black balls. But when Dwight reached for the bag, Nathan pulled it back.

“Nathan, hand it over.”

Nathan shook his head. “No, Charlotte is the only one who knows what to do with this. I’m going to give it to her.”

When Dwight took a menacing step towards Nathan, and knowing about his string of deceit, Audrey stepped between the two men. She was losing faith in Dwight, but needed to defuse this situation. “Dwight, let Charlotte look at it. We don’t have any other option.”

“I don’t trust her.”

“Dwight, we have to trust her. No one else would even know where to start with this.” Audrey kept her gaze on Dwight’s, and felt herself ease slightly when he sighed.

“Fine, but I’m going to have one of the Guard keep an eye on her.”

Audrey nodded as Dwight shifted his gaze to Nathan. “So, what happened to Kira?”

Nathan cleared his throat, and Audrey had a quick feeling he was working out what he was going to say. She would have to ask him about it later. “The aether was at the bottom of a deep hole. I went down, while Kira stayed above with a light she was powering. I had a glow stick on me, and went down. But, Kira couldn’t keep her charge long enough, and, the light went out. I couldn’t get up in time.”

Audrey could feel herself tense, and let herself mourn silently for the young girl. While she didn’t know her well, she had to thank Kira for saving Nathan’s life, and sacrificing herself to find the possible cure to the Troubles.

Dwight nodded. “I’ll let Tony know, but, you need to be careful, Nathan. People are placing a lot of blame on everyone, and you’re no longer immune from that blame.”

Nathan licked his lips, before turning to Audrey, taking her hand in his. “Come on.”

Audrey felt her heart quicken at the feel of Nathan’s hand in her own, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of fear which had taken root within her. Dwight was right. Nathan was no longer safe, and neither was she. They were going to have to look after each other even closer now. They needed to solve this darkness Trouble, and fast, because the school was quickly becoming a powder keg of emotions, and she wouldn’t be able to relax until they were back home.

 

 


	3. A Needed Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
> 
> Author’s Notes: I’m going to be writing all of these post-ep drabbles as if I haven’t read any spoilers and have NO IDEA as to what is going to happen in the next episode.
> 
> Also, this has only gone through a light beta, so any dumb mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Everything up to the end of 516 applies.

**A Needed Moment**

He ignored the narrowed eyes of some of the town’s people as he pulled Audrey out of the gym. He didn’t want to think about how many of them had voted for his death, but he would be willing to bet a lot of them still wanted him dead, even with Kira back safe and sound. But that didn’t matter right now. Right now, all that mattered was he was acquitted, and Audrey had solved yet another Trouble – arguably the most dangerous Trouble they had ever encountered. And by solving that Trouble, she made the world open up for everyone again, because now darkened areas were once again accessible. With that thought in mind, he moved his hand from her wrist, so he could thread his fingers through hers, and pulled her along.

“Where are we going?”

He looked down at her and smirked, before glancing left and right at the doors they were passing. Finally, seeing one which was closed to warn off people of the darkness held within, he stopped and twisted the handle, pushing the door in. He took a few steps ahead of her, never letting go, and stopped to listen to make sure no one else had already found the room. Satisfied with the quiet, he looked back to see her illuminated by the fluorescent lights of the hallway, and tugged her towards him, into the room, pushing the door closed behind her, and then pushing her body against it with his own.

“Nathan…”

He didn’t let her finish. All he wanted was her – to draw strength from her. It had been such a long day, and as calm as he tried to be in front of her, to keep her grounded, he had been a ball of anxiety all day. There was no guarantee he would make it through the day alive, and after everything they had all been through, he needed to stay alive. This could not be his end. And it wasn’t. And so, he needed her. He needed all of her, even though he knew he couldn’t. Not here, not now, but soon. As soon as he got his fill right here, right now, he would pull her out of the school, straight to Duke’s jeep, and then straight to his house, where they would stay for days, ignoring the world outside. The world could survive without them for a while.

But in this moment, he needed something, so he framed her face with his hands, and covered her mouth with his own. His tongue danced with hers, and he pushed his hips into hers, crushing her against the door. He could feel her fingers lace through his hair, and he sighed into her mouth, pulling away when he needed air, and tilted his forehead down to hers. When he licked his lips, they tasted of her, and he wanted nothing more than to take her home. Now.

“Parker, let’s go home.”

He could hear her unsteady breaths, and knew she was taking a moment to compose herself, but he felt her nod.

“Yes. But first, I need to find Grayson.”

He pulled back slightly to look at her, even though couldn’t see her through the dark. “What? Why?”

“I told him to wait for me outside the gym in case you…in case I needed him. But, I didn’t see him. I’m worried about him.”

He exhaled deeply through his nose, and leaned his forehead against hers once more. Of course she would still be looking out for others. Why would he expect any less?

“It’ll only take a minute. And then we can go.”

“Ok. You go find him, and I’ll pack our stuff. And then we’re leaving.”

He felt her lips on his once again, and he prayed Grayson would be right outside of this room, so he could whisk her away to his house.

“Sounds like a plan.”

With one last quick kiss, he pulled away so she could step away from the door, and he reached down to open it for her. The light from the hallway was momentarily blinding, but they eventually stepped into it. As she went to go in the opposite direction of where they were storing their clothes, he squeezed her fingers. “Hurry.”

“I’ll be back before you know it.”

 

 


	4. The End of a Long Day - post 517

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
> 
> Author’s Notes: I’m going to be writing all of these post-ep drabbles as if I haven’t read any spoilers and have NO IDEA as to what is going to happen in the next episode.
> 
> Also, this has only gone through a light beta, so any dumb mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Everything up to the end of 517 applies.

**The End of a Long Day**

 “Dwight, you have to see what you’re doing is wrong!”

Nathan hovered by the door to Dwight’s office, standing well back from the barely contained small bundle of fury that was Audrey Parker. As happy as he was she was alive and back from the grasps of the Sandman, he knew better than to stand in her way when she was this fired up. She might have been barely over 5 feet in height – maybe a little more with her heeled boots – but sometimes, she just seemed to be able to stand eye to eye with Dwight, and this was definitely one of those times. Based on her reaction, she had known about the people the Sandman was holding, and while for whatever reason she had been ok with it then, she definitely wasn’t ok with it now. And frankly, he agreed with her. While the town had definitely needed some sort of governing body these past couple of weeks, he was never positive the Guard was the right answer, and it seemed to be less and less the right answer as the days wore on. The Guard was big on intimidation, and that’s about it.

“Audrey, there was no way to know he would turn that way.”

“There’s no way to know if any of us will turn that way, but you need to be aware of that, and act accordingly. You can’t be forcing people to use their Troubles – whether they volunteer or not- it’s just too dangerous.”

“Audrey, come on. You get people to use their Troubles all the time.”

“That’s different, and you know it.”

“Is it really? You never had any way to know if what you were doing would turn out right or not.”

When he noticed Audrey’s hands balling up into fists, Nathan knew it was time to step in. Emotions were all over the place, and tension was definitely set on high in the room. He stepped forward, and placed a hand on her arm. “Parker. Let’s go.”

“Nathan, no. This is wrong, and it needs to be fixed.” Audrey tried to pull her arm away from Nathan’s grasp, but that only caused him to hold on a little tighter. She looked up at him, and could see him lean down a little closer to her, giving her the impression that even though his next words would be heard by Dwight, he meant them to be a little more meaningful to her.

“It does, but it can’t be fixed right now. We can talk about it tomorrow. Let’s go home.” Nathan looked away from the blinking blue eyes of Audrey, to Dwight, and could see the slight emotion of gratitude sweep across the large man’s face. Dwight may not always get things right, but he wasn’t an idiot – he knew when he was in a losing battle with Audrey Parker, and it wasn’t a good place to be.

Audrey looked over towards Dwight one last time before looking back to Nathan, and she felt herself slump a little. It was true – nothing could be fixed right now, and she was exhausted. She was exhausted and looking forward to going home before the interlude with Henry, and now she was even more so. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

\-------------------

The two sat in silence in the powerful luminescence of every light in Nathan’s house burning brightly. The Darkness Trouble was gone, but the feeling of fear remained. It probably would for days. Audrey was tucked into Nathan’s side, her head resting on his chest, as he played with her hair. It was such a soothing feeling for both of them, regardless of how tired they were – and the fact Nathan’s bed was waiting for them after so many weeks – they stayed put, and just basked in the feeling of everything being ok for the briefest of moments.

“What was it like?”

Audrey moved her head slightly so she could look up to Nathan, and realized he was watching her. “What was what like?”

“Your wedding.”

She snorted a little at his question. “Why? You want to take notes?” His answering smirk told her everything.

“Of course. I want to know what you hated, and give you the opposite.”

Audrey twisted so she could look Nathan fully in the eye, and could see the intensity radiating out of his eyes. So she nodded, and twisted back to her original position of her head on his chest, and smiled when she felt his fingers return to running through her hair. “It was beautiful, but it wasn’t me. My dress made me feel…it made me feel like a princess.”

“Ok, so, we need to make sure your dress makes you feel like a bag lady.”

Audrey grinned, but swatted at Nathan’s chest for good measure. “The wedding was just so…big. It was set up for so many people. I wouldn’t want that. But, the location was beautiful. There was this bench overlooking the water, and it was just…that was where I remembered you, and you brought me back. I feel like you and I always find each other on a bench overlooking the water.”

“I brought you back?”

Nodding against his chest, but not moving elsewise, Audrey continued. “I could hear your voice, and then a newspaper blew against me in the wind. It had your picture in it. And I remembered you. And I knew what I needed to get back to. Henry came to me then.”

Nathan was curious as to how she had managed to get away from the Sandman, but there hadn’t been time to ask, so he let her continue.

“He told me he wanted to keep me there, because I loved him. But I told him I didn’t – I loved you. I felt sorry for him, but I could see then he was starting to break. Things were getting fractured, and I knew he was losing his control on the world. I told him as much, and that seemed to break his concentration. And then I woke up, and there you were.”

Moving so he could wrap his arms around her, Nathan pulled Audrey close, and kissed the top of her head. “You’re not getting away from me that easily.”

After a few minutes of just relaxing in each other’s embrace, Nathan loosened his grip. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

Audrey nodded, and reluctantly pulled herself away from Nathan’s warm body, and stood, holding her hand out to help Nathan get up as well. “Can we sleep with the lights on? Just for tonight?”

Nathan tucked her under his arm, and led her towards the bedroom. “Tonight, and any night you want to.”

 


	5. Dealing with Another Loss - Post 518

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
> 
> Author’s Notes: I’m going to be writing all of these post-ep drabbles as if I haven’t read any spoilers and have NO IDEA as to what is going to happen in the next episode.
> 
> Also, this has only gone through a light beta, so any dumb mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Everything up to the end of 518 applies.

**Dealing With Another Loss**

She was shaking so badly, she dropped her phone twice before she was able to actually dial Nathan. She chose to ignore the bloody fingerprints she left on her screen. It took him shouting her name three times before she finally managed to stutter out, “she’s dead. She’s dead, Nathan.”

She couldn’t even remember telling him where she was, but before she knew it, she was being pulled away from the body, into Nathan’s arms. He effectively blocked her view of the body, and it was then she felt all her energy drain, and sobs wrack her body. When she went to wipe some of the tears from her face, she felt a sticky substance on her cheeks, and it only seemed to smear when she swiped at it again.

“Come on, we need to get you cleaned up.”

She pulled back to look at him, not understanding his statement, and looked over to Dwight clutching Charlotte to him, much as she had moments – hours – earlier. She shook her head, not wanting to leave, but wanting to run like hell, all at the same time. “No, we need to…” She couldn’t even finish her thought, because she didn’t know what they needed to do. She couldn’t think, and her vision was only torn from the scene in front of her when she felt his fingers grasp her chin, tugging her to look back at him.

“He needs a few minutes anyways.”

She searched Nathan’s eyes, her vision blurring behind tears, and she nodded, causing a few of those tears to fall. She could feel the tears change direction on her face when they touched the sticky substance which seemed to now be tightening on her cheeks, and she swiped at it uselessly, trying once again to remove it. But when she felt it further smear, she looked down at her fingers, and noticed they were bright red. Her eyes widened in understanding, and she felt sick to her stomach.

“Parker. We need to get you cleaned up.”

She let him tug her out of the room and into the bathroom down the hall, refusing to look at herself in the mirror, and instead hugged herself tightly. She only looked up when she felt the rough edges of the wet paper towel wash over her face, and she looked into the worried eyes of her lover. She said nothing as he continued to clean Charlotte’s blood from her face. She said nothing as he tugged her jacket off, and then pulled her shirt over her head, thinking only briefly now normally this act was so intimate, but today it was different. It was still intimate – there was no one else she would allow to remove her shirt without protest – but it was different. When she watched her shirt land unceremoniously in the garbage can, she knew it must it have been soaked in blood and not salvageable. Her jacket was probably covered in blood as well, but since it was black, it wasn’t as noticeable. It might need to be tossed as well when they got home, but for now, Nathan laid it on the counter as he stripped off his own jacket and jean shirt. He carefully dressed her in the jean shirt before putting draping his jacket over her shoulders.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.”

She must have looked confused by his apology, because he continued.

“We had to wait for that poison gas to move out of the area before we could come in. It took almost an hour. I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer.”

Anger started to boil up through the numbness. “We need to solve that damn Trouble. Why is it still around? Do we have any leads on the Troubled person? This can’t continue.” Her blinders were on now, and all she could see was a need to solve the Trouble. It had been around too long, and she was already turning to head out of the bathroom when his hands on her arms had her being tugged back.

“Parker, stop.”

“Nathan, no. This Trouble can’t go on. It’s preventing us all from doing what we need to do. Let me go.”

“Audrey, no.”

The two stared at each other for several moments before he spoke again. “Are you ok?”

That question. The single question that can break the strongest of people. No matter how put together one may seem, or however much they are holding their emotions in check, that singular question from a loved one can break down barriers every single time. And this time was no different. She could feel the tears start rolling down her cheeks again when she looked down, and she shook her head. “I don’t know. I just don’t know. She’s dead, but I’m not sure how to process how I feel. Up until a few days ago, I didn’t trust her, and the only thing that kept me from writing her off completely was the fact she saved me. But she kept trying to prove herself to me, and I was starting to see she cared, but, it’s too soon. I’m not sure how I feel. And that almost makes me feel worse.”

“Hey, Parker. You’re allowed to feel that.”

She looked up at him through blurry eyes. He was always so understanding. “We should go back. We need to…”

“No, you go sit in the truck. I’ll go help Dwight.”

She wanted to protest, because she didn’t want to be the girl, but there had been so much death lately, and too much of it had hit much too close to home, and she wasn’t sure she could stomach moving Charlotte’s body. So, she didn’t protest. Instead, she let Nathan lead her outside and to the waiting Bronco, inside of which she hung her head in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably as Dwight and Nathan dealt with their own pain.

 

 


	6. A New Plan - Post 519

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
> 
> Author’s Notes: So, I’ve been trying to write these as spoiler free, but after seeing the preview of next week’s episode, I couldn’t help it. I needed to write my take on how we lead up to next week. So, if you’re super anti-spoiler, I’m warning you now.
> 
> Also, this has only gone through a light beta, so any dumb mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Everything up to the end of 519 applies.

**A New Plan**

He was too exhausted to move, but his eyes tracked her as she flitted around his kitchen. He wanted to be annoyed at her for her lack of openness in light of recent events – and especially since she seemed to be pulling away again – but he knew she wasn’t. It did however, seem as though he was putting more into the relationship now than she was. Was that even fair to think though? Admittedly she was more invested in their relationship in the beginning than he was – she was willing to be someone else in order to spare his life – but now he was the one putting in the effort. Relationships were like that though, he supposed. Give and take, push and pull.

It still stung though.

He hoped it was because they were constantly on edge, and he knew deep down the only way they wouldn’t be on edge would be if the Troubles were completely, and utterly gone. And now he knew how to make that happen.

Unfortunately, the plan was going to require some convincing.

“Parker.”

She barely stopped at his calling of her name, and so he tried again.

“Audrey.”

That stopped her. It was rare when he used her first name, and when he did, it caught her attention. She looked up, and instinctually knew to move out of the kitchen towards him.

“I know how to get the next piece for the Barn.”

That had her sitting down. “How? All of the thinnies here are closed.”

He nodded. “Exactly. All the thinnies here are closed.”

She narrowed her eyes. “So, if we agree, then, I’m confused.”

“All of the thinnies here are closed. All of the thinnies in the past however, are not.”

That got her full attention. “What are you saying?”

He licked his lips, taking an extra second to compose himself and his thoughts. “I’m saying, I’m going to get Stuart Mosely to send me back to 1983.”

She flew to her feet. “What? Why? That is not a good idea, Nathan.”

“Because, I need to go to a time when I know a thinny is open. And we know one is open in 1983…”

“…because that’s when our son was killed by my…by the Croatoan.”

He nodded. Even though she had gone through so much today, her brain was still methodically thinking things through. But then, when she was deeply hurting, all she did was analyze the situation – pushing away all emotions. He had heard stories of her doing it, and he had witnessed it as well, so expected nothing less from her here. “Right. He comes through the thinny, so we know there’s one open there, and I’d be willing to bet you…Lucy knew about it, and knew how it worked. That’s why she had the ring.”

“You’re going to see her?”

He reached up to grab her hand, and tugged her down onto his lap, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I see you everywhere I go. I know I’ll see her.”

She nodded, but couldn’t make eye contact. “But why you? Why do you have to go?” And then she did make eye contact, and he could see the first emotion in hours cross her face as tears started to well. “We don’t know if you can survive being in the void, Nathan. I can’t lose you. You need to come back to me.”

He almost missed her unspoken agreement to his plan because of the tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks. He moved the fraction of an inch towards her, and lightly touched his lips to hers before resting his forehead on hers. “It has to be me. We both know it does. You won’t lose me. I’ll always come back to you.”

He felt her nod against his forehead, and he pulled her into his arms and settled back against the couch, where the two of them just sat in silence for hours. It was only going to get worse before it got better, but if it meant getting rid of the Troubles once and for all, he would go through hell and back to make it happen.

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
> 
> Author’s Notes: Ok, I give up. No more writing these as spoiler free, BUT I will only use spoilers that were seen in the preview for next week, so not sure if that qualifies as spoilers, but , if you’re super anti-spoiler, I’m warning you now.
> 
> Also, this has only gone through a light beta, so any dumb mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Everything up to the end of 520 applies.

**A Minor Disagreement**

“Ok, spill.”

All night he had been avoiding telling her exactly what he meant when he said everything had been set in motion during his time travel trip. She had meant to grill him when they got back to his place, but dammit, he had distracted her. He told her about how Lucy had been instantly drawn to him – and he to Lucy because he had seen her in Lucy. To be honest, she was equal parts jealous of someone being pulled towards Nathan, even if it was technically herself, and aroused by the obvious chemistry between her and Nathan. He had been with her in three different time periods now, and three different times, she couldn’t resist him. Or he, her.

And so, they had lost themselves in each other.

The day then started with the shrill ring of their phones, and jumping out of bed to deal with another eruption of Troubles, thereby leaving no time for her to find out his plan. But now they were at his house, and it was quiet. They were huddled under a blanket on his couch, each clutching a glass of white wine, savoring the final drops of alcohol left in the house. To be honest, there wasn’t much of any type of food left in the house – or in all of Haven for that matter – which meant getting rid of the shroud surrounding the town was becoming more and more necessary every day.

“Barbara Colton was able to combine Lucy’s ring with her Trouble to open thinnies, which would mean her decedents would be able to do the same.”

“Right, but as you already know, and failed to tell me, thereby wasting my time, there are no Coltons in Haven.”

“I never waste your time.” He leaned over to kiss her forehead, and she answered him with a narrowing of her eyes, but he continued. “There are no Coltons in Haven, but there are definitely Coltons outside of Haven.”

“Ok, genius, but there’s no way for us to leave Haven to find them, and we can’t exactly call anyone outside of Haven to find them for us, either.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. Duke can find them for us.”

“Nathan, again, we can’t call him to tell him. How are we supposed to let him know about it?”

“I already did.”

His answer threw her, but when her analytical mind starting putting the possible pieces together, the blood in her veins started running cold. She was fairly sure she knew the answer, but still, she needed to ask. “Dare I ask how?”

“I wrote a letter to him in the past, and told a kid I went to school with to track Duke throughout the years, and give him the letter yesterday. If all went well, Duke should already have the letter, and be on his way.”

She couldn’t help it. She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. “Nathan, do you not know the meaning of “be like mice”? You were not supposed to change the timeline! You changed this whole kid’s life!”

He shrugged. “Maybe it’s always been like that. No one really understands time travel.”

She had to look skyward for a second to calm herself. Was it really that bad if a kid followed someone for years? People followed others all the time on social media now. How was this any different, aside from the obvious creep factor? “Ok, so say the kid miraculously gets the letter to Duke. Then what?”

When she saw his tongue dart out to moisten his lips, she knew she wasn’t going to like his answer, but was still not prepared for the instant fear and anger which ripped through her body at his words.

“Duke brings a Colton back, and then I take the ring and go into the thinny.”

She flew to her feet, knocking the blanket to the floor, as well as a throw pillow. “Absolutely not. You are not going into a thinny. That is dangerous, and stupid, and not a good plan.”

“Parker, I am. I need to go in there so we can build a Barn.”

It was part buzz from the wine, part exhaustion, and a whole lot of anxiety that had her storming out of the house, slamming the door behind her. She couldn’t listen to his ridiculous plan anymore. She couldn’t listen to him saying he was going to sacrifice himself, because that’s what he would be doing. She just needed time to think and calm down a little. Thankfully, the constant sound of the water lapping up on shore provided the soothing balm she needed, so she picked her way down the rocky slope to the soft sand, and started walking, letting the light from the moon guide her, not even noticing the chilly bite of the night air. But as she walked, she hugged herself, trying to hold herself together as she felt tears drip down her face. She couldn’t lose him, but she knew he was the most logical choice to go into the void, and it was killing her.

He jumped when the door slammed behind her, and rubbed his hands over his face. He should have known she wouldn’t take the plan well – he wouldn’t if their roles were reversed. But, he knew better than to go after her now. She needed time to process, and eventually, she would return. They always returned to each other, which is why deep down, he knew he would survive the void. Looking around the disheveled room, he decided it wasn’t worth it to clean anything up. He didn’t have the energy anyways, so instead, he moved into the bedroom to get ready for bed. In the darkness, he stared at the ceiling, waiting for her to return. A few hours later, he could hear the soft click of the front door closing, and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. And when she climbed under the covers, wrapping her body around his, he did his best to not jump at the shock of feeling her cold skin.

The feeling of her soft body, now warm, stretched across his body, woke him. Just the simple feeling of her skin still got him every time, and even though they’d only slept a few short hours, and he could feel the exhaustion deep within his muscles, he couldn’t help it, and his hands started to wander across her skin. Gradually she woke up, and just like always, they quickly lost themselves in each other, silently working through their differences of the night before.

Afterwards however, she quickly rolled out of bed, and as she moved through the room, she mumbled something about not having enough clothes here. At the sound of her voice, he cracked open an eye to see her buttoning up one of his jean shirts, and knew instantly, it was now hers. He smiled at the thought, but frowned as she moved out of the room towards the living room. She was definitely still mad and was doing anything to keep herself busy, and the smell of coffee brewing confirmed his suspicions. Sighing, he climbed out of bed, pulled on whatever he could find on his bedroom floor, and moved toward the kitchen, hopping up on the counter next to the cup of coffee she had left for him, to watch her move about his house. Yup, she was definitely still mad, but he knew how to get through her defenses. Around her, and only her, his stoicism fell away, and she could never resist his jokes. It would all be ok. This, the void, Haven – everything would be ok. And as he picked up the bright red bag of coffee, which was becoming increasingly lighter every day, he knew in his heart, this day was going to start the beginning of the end. He shook the bag, and looked up at her as she gathered their wine glasses from last night. “You know, we’re almost out of this stuff…”

 


	8. The Ultimate Betrayal - Post 521

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
> 
> Author’s Notes: For the most part, these are all written spoiler free, but occasionally I will use spoilers that were seen in the preview for next week, so not sure if that qualifies as spoilers, but, if you’re super anti-spoiler, I’m warning you now. I used the word “spoiler” a lot in that sentence…
> 
> And just an early heads up, I’m probably going to be late on next week’s post-ep drabble, because of the holiday. I’ll see what I can do, but no guarantees.
> 
> Also, this has only gone through a light beta, so any dumb mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Everything up to the end of 521 applies.

**The Ultimate Betrayal**

 “No! No, no, no, no.”

The second Hailie ran off, Duke instantly knew what Audrey’s reaction would be to the thinny being closed. He knew, because he had seen her reaction to Nathan’s death once before, and it wasn’t pretty. He had never seen someone so focused on a goal that nothing else mattered. Morals, principle, nothing. Before, when she realized she had lost Nathan, there had been a small glimmer of hope she could bring him back, and that small glimmer was the only thing she had clung to. She would do the same now. The gears in her head would be spinning so fast, it wouldn’t surprise him to see smoke starting to come out of her ears, because she would be thinking of anything – _anything_ – that would bring Nathan back. And god help anyone who stood in her way.

Knowing he needed to so something – he could already see her falling apart – Duke leaned down to Lisa, and told her things would be ok, and he would check on her later. He could see Lisa’s eyes widening at Audrey, and he needed Lisa to get out of there so he could focus only on Audrey. Once Lisa was on her way towards her car, Duke turned back to Audrey, who was walking in small circles in the area where the thinny had been. Her eyes were wide and frantic.

“Audrey…”

“He never should have gone in there, and he wouldn’t have had the chance if you had just stayed away.”

Her words tore through him. Partly because he had just listened to her telling Lisa about how he had come back to save them all, and he now realized she was still questioning his motives, but mostly because they were true. If he had stayed away, Nathan wouldn’t have been able to go into the thinny. By returning to Haven, he had set into motion the course of events which would lead to his vision coming true.

“Audrey, stop, stop.” He reached out towards her, and even though she tore herself from his grasp, he knew she needed comfort and so reached for her again, pulling her against him in a hug. He could feel her body shaking, and it was worrying him. It was almost as if she was falling apart in front of him. He knew she and Nathan were close, but with her reaction, it seemed as though the two of them had become even closer in his absence. It seemed as though they had come to a point where they could only survive together, and not on their own. That was both comforting, and terrifying at the same time. “Audrey, he’s not dead. He’s just in the void. We can get him back. We just need to find Hailie.”

Audrey pulled back from Duke. He could see she was considering his words, but fear was still clouding her eyes. Fear, and hurt. “You knew she was a loose cannon. You should have fought harder against using her.”

“Audrey, I did fight against using her! I told you all those things, but you’re so god damn stubborn, you wouldn’t listen!”

“You need to fix this, Duke. You need to find Hailie. You need to convince her to help. We need to get Nathan back. I…I need Nathan back.”

Duke blew out a breath. “I’ll get Hailie back, Audrey. Don’t worry. We’ll get Nathan back. We have to.” He watched as she slowly nodded, and hoped she understood he was on her side. He would make sure they got Nathan back. The future of Haven depended on it.

With one last glance at where the thinny had been, Audrey started moving towards the stairs to the house. It was so cold outside, and it was starting to seep into her bones. With Nathan gone, she was numb to everything, but something made her stop, and slowly she turned around towards Duke, narrowing her eyes. “Why did you say we have to get Nathan back?”

Her words stopped him. He knew the hidden meaning behind his words, but hadn’t intended for her to pick up on anything. But then, when it comes to Nathan being taken from her, Audrey Parker misses nothing. "Um, because. For you.”

She started moving back towards him, and he knew he was in trouble.

She shook her head. “No, that’s not what you meant. What did you mean, Duke?”

He could feel his heart start to quicken, and knew if he told her the truth, the tenuous peace between the two of them would be infinitely shattered. But, when Audrey Parker had her teeth on a bone, nothing would shake her loose, and this situation was no different. Raking his fingers through his hair, he debated one moment more, and then figured it was better to just rip the band aid off. “I had a vision.”

When he didn’t elaborate, she raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “You had a vision…”

He sighed heavily. “I met up with Seth, and we found an old man who knew of Mara and William. When I was talking to him, he showed me the future of Haven. It…it wasn’t good. The Croatoan had won. Everyone was dead. And…and it all started because Nathan went into the void, and was lost.”

He watched as a myriad of emotions flashed across Audrey’s face, and he knew she was processing the information, and trying to figure out how to respond. When she did, her words were soft, barely concealing the hurt and anger.

“You knew Nathan getting lost in the void was a possibility?”

“I did.”

“Did Nathan know this?”

He wouldn’t lie. “He did.”

She stood ramrod straight, clenching her fists as she looked skyward, and he knew even she wasn’t sure how to react. Her emotions must be all over the place.

“He told me to make sure he didn’t get lost.”

Those words had her eyes once again training on his. “And so, your idea of making sure he wouldn’t get lost was to mope inside the house the whole time? You never thought once that perhaps you should be outside with us, talking to the girl you brought, who you said was a loose cannon? What is wrong with you, Duke? Nathan trusted you. I trusted you.”

Never, ever should anyone underestimate the power of Audrey Parker’s words. The woman could talk down even the most Troubled, so it was no surprise she could cut down those who failed her. And he had completely, and utterly, failed her. She was right, he did nothing to keep Nathan from being lost. He didn’t think of others, and it could cost everyone, everything. “You’re right. You’re completely right. I’m going to fix this, Audrey.”

“I don’t need you, Duke. I thought I did, and I can forgive you for abandoning me, I already have, but I will never, ever forgive you for abandoning Nathan. Never. I will fix this myself. I don’t need you.”

The hurt in her voice tore through him, but he moved towards her. “Audrey, Hailie won’t listen to you. She’ll listen to me. I’ll get Nathan back.”

The only sound around them was the wind whistling through the trees.

“I’m going to go to find Hailie. I will call you as soon as I find her.”

He knew she wasn’t pacified by his words, but she had little choice at the moment. He only hoped she could keep herself together until they found Nathan. Because they would. And when she gave a brief, tight nod, he let out a small breath.

“I’ll go find Dwight.”

He watched as she walked away, and could only marvel at her strength. She never abandoned those she loved, and he wasn’t sure he would ever fit onto her list ever again.


	9. The Dawn Before the Dusk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
> 
> Author’s Notes: For the most part, these are all written spoiler free, but occasionally I will use spoilers that were seen in the preview for next week, so not sure if that qualifies as spoilers, but, if you’re super anti-spoiler, I’m warning you now. I used the word “spoiler” a lot in that sentence…
> 
> Whew. Got this posted just in time.
> 
> Also, this has only gone through a light beta, so any dumb mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Everything up to the end of 522 applies.

**The Dawn Before the Dusk**

As they drove, she flipped the crystal over and over in her hands. She kept thinking that maybe if she just held it the right way, a memory or some kind of supernatural knowledge would push its way to the front of her brain and she would know how to build a Barn. With nothing coming to mind, she sighed, and shoved the crystal in her coat pocket. As her hand brushed the soft wool inside, she realized how cold her hands were, and immediately pushed them towards the heat vents, only to discover just a tiny amount of heat was coming out. The heater must be malfunctioning again.

“Nathan, we have got to take this truck in. It’s going to start snowing soon, and I’m not driving around in a truck without heat.”

“We can always switch to your car.”

She looked over to him with slightly narrowed eyes, and watched as his lips twitched up into a smirk.

“Ha ha.”

His lips pulled up into a full blown smile, and she couldn’t help but let the enormity of the situation wash over her. Here she was, being teased by her boyfriend in a completely normal situation, when not even an hour ago, she was worried sick she would never see this man ever again, while was dealing with one of the heaviest subjects that existed between her and Duke. Duke – he finally came back. She was not at all happy about his return, but even though his return had enabled Nathan to go into the void, he had stepped up and helped to bring Nathan back. For that, she would be forever grateful. With the heaters doing nothing to warm her fingers, she shoved her hands back into her pockets, and her knuckles grazed the crystal. As she wrapped her fingers around the crystal again, she realized that even if they didn’t know what they were doing, at least they were on the right track, and with Duke back, they were finally back as a team. Things were finally going to be ok. She looked out the window as her thoughts turned to Duke. He had declined to drive back with them – presumably he needed time to mourn his friend Hailie – and while she was glad to have time to be with Nathan, she had hoped Duke would have spent a little more time with them today. But, there was time for that later. Tomorrow they could meet over drinks and bounce ideas off each other of what to do next.

“What did you want to do tonight?”

His voice drew her out of her thoughts, and she smiled as she thought about what she wanted to do. “I want to get Chinese take-out, and sit together with our case files in front of us, and go back and forth on theories and possibilities.”

“Hmmm. From King Bo?”

She shook her head. “No way. From Wing’s.”

“But Wing’s doesn’t have the good chow mein.”

“But it does have the egg rolls I like.”

She watched as he turned and smirked at her again before returning his eyes to the road as they pulled into this driveway. Her stomach grumbled in response to the conversation about Chinese food. At this point, she would be willing to give up her right arm for the night she just described. But instead, they would be digging through Nathan’s cabinets to see what was left, and rationing whatever they would find. She jumped out of the cab of the truck, and crunched her way on the gravel area around towards Nathan, jamming her body into his side, reveling in the notion he was here. Chinese food would happen eventually – just not tonight – but that was ok, because at least he was here with her.  

Yes, things were definitely looking up.

As Nathan jingled his keys in the front door, and she hopped foot to foot to keep warm, hunching her shoulders and turning her back to the cold breeze blowing off the water, she could hear his phone ringing. Unconcerned with his call, she pushed past him into the house, straight to the thermostat to make sure it was set a little higher than usual.

“Dwight.”

The sound of Dwight’s name had her turning back towards Nathan, and as she watched his face as he listened to whatever Dwight was saying, she knew deep in her soul that any plans for tonight were now permanently on hold. Something very bad had happened, and even though she didn’t know what it was, she wondered how much more devastation she would be able to handle.

“We’ll meet you there.”

“What’s wrong?”

When his eyes reached hers, she could see the pain swimming through them. It was bad.

“It’s Dave. Croatoan killed him.”

Her heart froze in her chest, and she had a feeling things were coming to a climax much faster than anticipated, and their ending would be here before they knew it. The only question was what kind of ending it would be.


	10. Alone Again - Post 523

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
> 
> Author’s Notes: For the most part, these are all written spoiler free, but occasionally I will use spoilers that were seen in the preview for next week, so not sure if that qualifies as spoilers, but, if you’re super anti-spoiler, I’m warning you now. I used the word “spoiler” a lot in that sentence…
> 
> Also, this has only gone through a light beta, so any dumb mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Everything up to the end of 523 applies.

**Alone Again**

As he drove in a crisscrossing pattern back and forth across town, he kept twisting his fists up and down on the steering wheel, trying desperately to stay calm. He knew now how terrified Audrey was when he stepped through that thinny, not knowing for sure if he would come back or not. He told her just as long as she kept telling him to come back to her, he would keep on doing it. But he had not been given the chance to tell her to come back to him, and as ridiculous as it sounded, he felt as though that simple missed gesture would prove to have costly effects.

Why did these things keep happening? Finally he had her back, and once again, she was taken from him. Finally he had Duke back, and once again, he was taken from him. For a brief moment, life was back to normal. Audrey was Audrey, Duke was back helping them, and as a team they were working to solve the Troubles. He and Audrey were in the absolute high of their relationship, and nothing could be better. He and Duke had just that day sat down and bonded over shared memories, and he had been able to see how much closer they were than he ever realized when Duke admitted to giving him the case which would convince him to stay with the Haven PD. He had the girl of his dreams, he had his best friend. Even if the town was crumbling around him, at least his personal life was finally, for once, completely intact.

The respite however, had been much too brief.

As he drove by the ruins of the Gull, he couldn’t help but think about the awful moment when he walked in on Audrey’s apartment to find she had been kidnapped – and his instant anger at thinking it was Duke. But once he had managed to calm down, he realized it wasn’t Duke, and it was Duke who stayed with him to find her. The feeling of her running into his arms was a moment he would never forget. He needed to feel her in his arms again.

The empty field where the Barn once sat soon rose into view, and he was assaulted by his worst memory of all – kneeling in the field, looking at where the Barn once was, as he realized his two best friends were gone, and he was alone. He was lost for months, and it was only Duke’s return which brought him back from the brink. He knew with Duke back, Audrey was out there too, and for the first time in months, he had felt like living was worth it again.

As he continued to drive, the empty ache he felt then was once again taking root in his stomach, and this time it was tinged with fear. When Audrey had been kidnapped, he knew deep down he would find her. He was wild with fear the whole time, but he knew he would get her back. When she had left with the Barn, though he may have been despondent, at least he knew she was safe in the Barn. And while he would live a lifetime before he saw her again, he knew he would see her again. This time however, even though he was certain he would find her – he always did – there was the added element of Croatoan. He had very clearly possessed Duke, and it was doubtful he had intentions on keeping either Duke or Audrey alive. Yes, this situation was much more dire, and the gnawing sensation he had been feeling the past few weeks that an end was coming started growing stronger.

When he passed the post office for the fifth time, he slammed his hand on the steering wheel, and Duke’s warnings of him mistreating his body immediately floated back to him. But driving like this was useless, and he felt useless. Audrey was out there – she was out there and in trouble – and he couldn’t find her, and didn’t even know where to start. As the police station rose into view, he sighed. All he could do at this point was return, and hope a clue about Audrey had come in while he was away. He wasn’t sure how long he could stay sane with her gone.

 


	11. One Final Reunion - Post 524

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
> 
> Author’s Notes: Hey all, so, I’m pretty sure this will be the last post-ep I’m going to do. Right now, I’m feeling that I’m going to want Haven to end as it was supposed to end, and not entirely positive I’ll have anything to add to it. Now, that could change, but, we’ll see.
> 
> So, if this is the last one, thank you all SO much for reading. These were fun!
> 
> And, I have a happy fic that I wrote a while ago I never posted for some reason. That will go up really soon, because I think we’re going to need it before the finale, which I think is going to crush us.
> 
> Also, this has only gone through a light beta, so any dumb mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> Everything up to the end of 524 applies.

**One Final Reunion**

Her heart was beating a mile a minute. She didn’t even want to think about how she ended up a few blocks away from the station. The last thing she remembered was standing in front of the open door in the house, and Croatoan saying she needed to join him. Then suddenly, she was shaking her head from disorientation, and feeling the bite of the cold air on her skin. All she was wearing was her light, white Henley. Her jacket was probably still in the office, and the temperature was steadily falling. Soon, snowflakes would be falling through the sky, and she shuddered at the thought of having to trudge through the snow – and shuddered even more when she thought she might never see snow again. Her conversation with Croatoan wasn’t exactly a positive one, and she had a bad feeling about his declaration that she couldn’t save Haven. She could feel her dreams of a house with a white picket fence with Nathan quickly slipping away, and the feeling of having to step in the Barn resurface all over again. She had so much more to lose this time, but she had said it before, and she was resolute – she would do anything to save Haven.

As the leaves whipped around her in the quickening breeze, she hugged herself to ward off the cold, and picked up her pace. Besides, she needed to get to the station. She needed to get to Nathan.

Even though Croatoan said he had saved Nathan, she needed to see him with her own eyes. She needed to see him, and feel him to prove to herself he was still there and whole.

She burst in the front door, and quickly scanned the bullpen looking for him. He wasn’t there, and her heart quickened even more, if that was even possible. Where was he?

“Audrey! You’re back! You’re ok!”

She turned her head in the direction of Stan’s voice, and planned to give him a weak smile, but was swept up in his arms instead. Letting out a small chuckle, she looked into his eyes and gave a stronger smile as her feet returned to the ground. “I am!” The man’s enthusiasm was so contagious, but she had more pressing matters, unfortunately. “Where’s Nathan?”

“He’s in your office.”

When Stan’s eyes floated over her head to settle on the office in question, she knew something was up. “What is it? Is he ok?”

“He’s pretty upset about Duke. Duke got him good. Also…he went out looking for Vince, and came back looking like he had seen a ghost. Been in your office since then.”

She turned her head slightly, and gazed down at the floor. It sounded like Nathan only had bad news for her, and she was going to have to be the strong one for once. For some reason he had been incredibly close with Duke lately, so she knew Duke’s betrayal – regardless of the fact that it was Croatoan controlling Duke – was going to hit Nathan hard. Looking back at Stan, she pulled one corner of her mouth up in a small smile. “Thanks, Stan. I’ll talk to him.”

At his nod, she turned and walked through the bullpen to her office – their office – and saw him standing with his back to the door, hands leaning on his desk, and his head hung low. Yes, she would have to be strong. She rapped her knuckles lightly on the door and watched as he turned, and realized it was her.

“Audrey.”

He was across the room in a few quick strides, and immediately she was pulled into his strong embrace. God, he was alive, he was ok, and he was here. She was in his arms, where she wanted – needed – to be. She breathed in his scent, feeling her heartbeat start to settle down. His hands were on her face and then his lips were touching hers. His tongue danced with hers, and for the briefest of moments, all was right with the world. And then his forehead was touching hers, and she sighed in contentment.

But then she looked into his eyes and noticed the shadowing around his right eye, and pulled back to get a better look. It was heavily bruised, and his cheek was puffy. Stan said Duke had gotten Nathan good. This must be what he meant. She reached up to tentatively touch his check, and he winced at her touch.

“I couldn’t feel it. Don’t make me.”

She said his name on a sigh, and an unasked question. “Nathan.”

“He’s still in there. I saw him.”

She nodded. “I know. We’ll get him back.”

When he licked his lips, she knew he had something to tell her, and was debating whether or not to say it in this moment.  “What is it?”

“It’s Vince. He…he took Howard’s place. He did it for Haven. He has the information we need. We know how to defeat Croatoan, Parker. We know how to save Haven.”

Her blood ran cold – from adrenaline, from fear, she couldn’t be sure. Vince had sacrificed himself. How, she wasn’t completely sure, but she knew she would forever be grateful to the old man, even more so since he was going to help them defeat Croatoan. Maybe she would get her house with the white picket fence with Nathan after all.

“So then, let’s go save it.”


End file.
